Cabinet Withdraws Draft Amendments to RTI Act

The Union Cabinet on Thursday decided to withdraw controversial draft amendments to the Right to Information Act that had sought to restrict disclosure of file notings only to social and developmental issues.

NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Thursday decided to withdraw controversial draft amendments to the Right to Information Act that had sought to restrict disclosure of file notings only to social and developmental issues.

After this, all file notings can be made public except those explicitly exempted, such as the ones related to national security, privacy and protection of commercial interest.

"The Cabinet has decided to withdraw the amendments," said a source privy to the deliberations at the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

In 2006, the Cabinet had approved the amendments but they did not make it to the Parliament because of the stiff opposition.